ninan.org

Eleanor

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~146,700 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#12 among girls
Births in 2025
7,654 337,323 since 1880
Typical age
12 years, median

Eleanor popularity over time

Eleanor rank by birth year, 1880–2025Eleanor ranked #126 in 1880 and #12 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #12, in 2025.#100#1218901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Eleanor in 1920 than in any other year — 8,507 of them. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. It has held a top-100 place in 59 separate years.

The 2025 position is #12, on 7,654 births. Over ten years the count has risen 72%.

Babies named Eleanor per yearPeaks at 8,507 births in 1920.8,507 in 1920018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Eleanor?

About 146,700 people named Eleanor are alive in the United States today. That is out of 337,323 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Eleanor?

Median age among living Eleanors: 12. More of them were born in the 2020s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Eleanor a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Eleanor

Ages of living people named EleanorHalf of living Eleanors are older than 12 and half younger.median 12020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Eleanor is most common

Eleanor is 4.1× as common in Vermont as it is nationally. District of Columbia, Maine and Alaska follow.

Where Eleanor is used more than average5 states use the name Eleanor more than the national average.Alaska: 2.6× the national rateAKMaine: 2.8× the national rateMEVermont: 4.1× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.5× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 2.8× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Eleanor is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Vermont 184 4.1×
District of Columbia 335 2.8×
Maine 386 2.8×
Alaska 225 2.6×
Wyoming 107 2.5×

Eleanor in England and Wales

ONS recorded 776 births named Eleanor in 2025, ranking it #56.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Eleanor comes from

The first known bearer was Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204), Aliénor, perhaps from Latin alia (“other”) and her mother's name Aenor, its meaning thereby said to be “the other Aenor”. This Aenor seems to come from earlier Adenordis, which might be some corruption of Adamardis, feminine form of Ademar or Adamarus, from Proto-West Germanic *Audamār, from the Proto-Germanic elements *audaz (“riches”) + *mēraz (“fame”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Eleanor

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Eleanor Roosevelt American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 1884–1962 148
Eleanor of Aquitaine Queen consort of France; Queen consort of England; suo jure Duchess of Aquitaine; patroness 1124–1204 68
Eleanor Parker American actress 1922–2013 51
Eleanor H. Porter American novelist 1868–1920 44
Eleanor F. Helin American astronomer 1932–2009 40
Eleanor Marx English writer, translator, activist, and daughter of Karl Marx 1855–1898 39
Eleanor Catton New Zealand writer 1985 39
Eleanor Farjeon English children's writer 1881–1965 39
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,041 in 1911 to 3,126 in 1912 — 1.5 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/eleanor.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).